KALI KUMAR MONDAL Vs. GOBINDA CHANDRA BASU

JUDGEMENT

(1.) This Rule arising out of an application under Section 34 of the West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act was obtained by the tenant petitioner and is directed against an appellate order passed by in Misc. Appeal No. 154 of 1977 of the First Court of the learned Additional District Judge, Burdwan.

(2.) The petitioner is a tenant under the opposite party at a monthly rental of Rs. 60/-. A suit for eviction of the petitioner is pending in the Court of the Munsif being Title Suit No. 202 of 1974. The premises is dispute being very old and dilapidated the tenant-petitioner filed an application before the Rent Controller for effecting repairs at an estimated cost of Rs. 1318/- The application was contested by the opposite party landlord. The Rent Controller after having held an enquiry in terms of Sub-Section (1) of Section 34 found that thorough renovation of the building was necessary and passed an order in favour of the petitioner to the following effect: ?I allow the tenant to effect repairs as per his estimate on the condition that he would get relief of six months rent within a financial year or in other words the tenant will deposit half the monthly rent till the recovery of the repairing costs is fully satisfied?.

(3.) The opposite party landlord being aggrieved by the order preferred an appeal. The learned Additional District Judge by his order dated November 7, 1978 set aside the order of the Rent Controller which is under challenge upon a finding that under Section 34 of the West Bengal Premises Tenancy Act the Rent Controller could have allowed only a sum of Rs. 360/- which was the rent for six months and which could be spent on repairs in any year. Since, however, the Rent Controller allowed a sum of Rs. 1318/- and since there was no indication that the tenant agreed to bear the expenses in excess of Rs. 360/-, the order of the Rent Controller was found to be wrong and in that view of the matter the learned Additional District Judge allowed the appeal and set aside the order.